[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 113 (Wednesday, July 13, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PRESIDENT ERDOGAN'S ASSAULT ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE TURKISH PEOPLE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 13, 2016

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise to remind our government 
that the human rights abuses committed by Turkish President Erdogan are 
grave and ongoing, and to distinguish between the Turkish president and 
the Turkish people--and to stand with the people.
  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has in recent years been aggressively 
violating the human rights of Turkish citizens and undermining the rule 
of law, in order to root out dissent and consolidate his personal 
power. The freedom of the press and the rights of common citizens to 
run schools, businesses, and volunteer associations have come under 
direct threat.
  Since assuming the presidency two years ago, President Erdogan has 
undermined the independence of the judiciary, jeopardizing access to a 
fair trial and undercutting government accountability. In 2014, he 
worked to stack the country's High Council of Judges and Prosecutors 
with party loyalists, enabling his government to ease arrest procedures 
and curtail opportunities for appeal. This facilitated the detention of 
thousands of activists, journalists, and businessmen under the 
country's overbroad terrorism statute. The President has exploited his 
growing leverage over the courts: his government's reshuffling last 
month of 3,700 judges and prosecutors rewarded pliant members of the 
judiciary while punishing others who ruled against the government or 
heard cases involving official corruption. A law passed earlier this 
month dismissed most of the judges on Turkey's highest courts, leaving 
it up to the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors to reappoint them 
or pick their successors.
  Mr. Speaker, in addition to undermining government institutions, 
President Erdogan's tightening grip on Turkey is also weakening the 
vitality of Turkish society. Under President Erdogan's direction, state 
authorities are undertaking a campaign of retribution against Erdogan's 
critics. Since Erdogan assumed the presidency in 2014, the government 
has opened nearly 2,000 cases against people suspected of ``insulting 
the president''--a crime in Turkey.
  Professional journalists and major news outlets in particular have 
incurred the wrath of the President. For reporting that is unflattering 
to Erdogan, whether on national security issues, the conflict with the 
Kurds, or official corruption, press outlets have been charged with 
``supporting terrorism'' or have had their entire operations taken over 
by government-appointed trustees. In one of the most egregious 
examples, Turkish authorities in March raided the offices of the 
nation's highest-circulation newspaper, Zaman, and overnight placed it 
under hand-picked, progovernment management.
  Mr. Speaker, President Erdogan has taken to politicizing the charge 
of ``supporting terrorism''--undermining the serious business of 
fighting terrorism, one of the gravest threats faced by the Turkish 
people. One persistent critic of Erdogan's centralization agenda and 
authoritarian tendencies is Fethullah Gulen, the founder of Hizmet, a 
moderate, Islamic civic movement dedicated to promoting education, 
popular piety, and civic engagement. Because of this criticism, Hizmet 
and its followers have suffered wave after wave of unfounded terrorism 
charges and forcible government seizures of businesses, universities, 
and schools. In May, the Turkish Cabinet approved a decision to 
designate Hizmet a ``terrorist organization,'' guaranteeing that this 
campaign of political retribution will continue. Gulen's followers have 
been placed in the crosshairs of the very arbitrary policies they 
criticize. Yet neither our State Department, nor the European Union, 
nor any other respected body outside Turkey, has ever characterized 
Hizmet as a terrorist group or anything like it--the Cabinet's 
designation is absurd.
  Mr. Speaker, in recent months, the Turkish people have been struck by 
a wave of violent attacks perpetrated by Islamist and Kurdish 
terrorists--most recently, a triple-suicide attack at Istanbul's 
international airport by Islamist extremists killed 44 innocent 
civilians. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those maimed in these 
attacks, to all those who lost beloved family and friends.
  I am confident that the Turkish people--for centuries renowned for 
their bravery--will never be cowed by terrorists, and that they will 
equally resist President Erdogan's attempt to undermine their rights, 
laws, and freedoms. Our government should stand with the Turkish people 
on both fronts.

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